


Lie to me in my eyes

by Stachmou77



Series: Steve Whump (Stuckony) [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:08:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26601958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stachmou77/pseuds/Stachmou77
Summary: (No AU) Steve just got back from his first day at his Arts college. His boyfriends, Bucky and Tony, have both always been supportive. Was that the truth or an act?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Steve Whump (Stuckony) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956520
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	Lie to me in my eyes

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea for so long. I normally love Tony!whump but what if Steve was the one suffering in their poly relationship. 
> 
> I may or may not write more about Steve being heartbroken by Tony and Bucky, because why not. And also, after everything happen with the Accords and the Winter soldier, I do believe that Tony and Bucky would have gotten together before Steve got in the mix, which leaves a lot of space for Steve!whump.

“Do you think he was serious?”

That was Bucky’s voice. Steve approached silently enough. He was holding his first real canvas and tools and couldn’t wait to show them what he bought for himself. His smile was hurting so much. He hadn’t been able to wipe it off since he went to his first classes and after he bought his tools on his way back.

“Arts school?” Tony’s voice rose, dubious. “Yeah, didn’t think he’d _really_ do it.”

Steve stopped walking. He unconsciously held his stuff closer to him. They were talking about him?

“He always was interested in arts, but it was in the 30’s. We didn’t have enough money and his little sexy drawings (Tony snickered) helped us when things were too tight. But now…” Bucky was moving around the living room. Steve who had been frozen, rush to hide behind a wall.

Normally Bucky would have been able to hear him. He could pick up any kind of noise which made him the first one to greet Tony or Steve. Tony had called him “puppy” because he’d jump onto them, nagging them about their day and wouldn’t let go until he was sure everything went well.

His fear that something could happen sometimes overrode all of his conditioning and for a few minutes the young Bucky was back.

The canvas in Steve’s arm cracked. He dropped his head hiding his face behind it. Tears threatened to spill, and at this point he’d be able to hide. He tried to sniff and wipe his eyes.

“And you were the one to offer him to pay for his tuitions as a _gift_ ,” Bucky added sarcastically. “You should have known he’d accept it.”

“Hey! Don’t put the blame on me!” Tony heard was louder than before. Steve heard his footsteps getting nearer. “If you’d told me that he was dead set on going back to university, I’d never offer.”

What? Steve blinked away the tears. Some escaped and rolled down his pale cheeks. He tiptoed to the elevator, breath shuddering so loud he was sure they’d hear him. The doors opened before he could press any button. He silently thanked JARVIS.

The last words he heard was Tony’s voice, “Captain America, in art school, I better call Pepper before the press get heard of it.”

The door closed on Steve’s trembling body.

Steve didn’t come back. He walked in the streets, canvas and gouaches under his arms. Every time he passed by a trash bin; he felt compelled to throw everything away. The more he went and the heavier everything became. He knew that it was in his head. His tools didn’t weigh that much and there was no scientifical reasons for them to gain a significant amount of weight. Steve could almost hear Tony reasoning in his head. They may not have seen eye to eye in the beginning but even back then Steve has appreciated the way his brain worked.

Steve stopped walking and looked around. He didn’t recognize the neighborhood. It looked residential which meant he wasn’t near the Tower. He wandered a few minutes before giving up. He sat down on a bench, laying his stuff carefully next to him.

He caressed the plastic protecting his canvas and sighed.

“Guess, they are right. That was ridiculous…” he laughed, his heart breaking at the mere thought of letting his dream go. “Yeah…that-.”

“Mister Rogers?”

Steve’s head snapped on his right. His body was already tensed and prepared to tackle the – Steve shook his head and smiled.

“I knew it was you,” the man, Jonah, continued, a smile stretching his plump lips.

Steve flushed embarrassed, under the intense gaze of the man. He looked at his belonging and stopped caressing the canvas.

“Yeah, I wanted to walk.”

Jonah raised an eyebrow and walked closer.

“To walk? If I remember correctly you live in the big phallus in the middle of the city.” Steve chuckled at the coincidence. The first time he’d see the Tower he’d compare it to a penis too. He may or may have not based his private report on Tony based on the building. Something to compensate, he remembered thinking. “Here it is back.”

Steve raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“You literally shone with the brightest smile I’ve seen in a long time. Most of my students are pretty much depressed, between the tuition and the workload most of them quit before the end of the semester. But you, you seemed not to care. Although I do know you were able to pay the tuition in full, the workload didn’t faze you. And it seemed to me that you still have to save the world between classes,” he joked.

Jonah paced in front of him looking around with inquisitive eyes. Steve sputtered some words. His blush was intensifying and the man in front of him didn’t seem aware of it. Steve’s thoughts were scattered around. He hadn’t been able to formulate a single coherent thought since Jonah stood in front of him.

The purple light from the sky wrapped the man in such an ethereal way. His dark brown skin glowed as he basked under the rays. An _angel_. Steve blinked, shocked by his thought. He shook his head and cleared his throat.

“Thanks,” he answered.

Jonah barked a laugh, startling Steve. He had already heard the man laugh during the lecture but to witness it up close was…intense. Jonah had a deep, raspy voice which didn’t really match his body. He was tall and lean. Steve knew that he had some prominent muscles under the layers of clothes and yet his voice has shocked him to the core.

His laugh reverberated in the empty street. Steve couldn’t help but join him, although his were more contain.

“Don’t thank me kid.”

“Kid?!” Steve exclaimed, almost indignant. Didn’t Jonah know that he was from the thirties?

“I have read your story, _kid.”_ Jonah winked at him. “You were in your late twenties when you were gone, then 70 years later, poof! Here you are. So mentally and physically you are still a twenty-something _boy_ , compared to me.” Jonah opened his jacked and took it off. He folded the soft looking material over his forearm.

Steve’s laugh surprised him. He didn’t know where it came from, but it rattled his entire chest and left him breathless.

Jonah stood there, looking at him, with soft eyes. It took a long time before Steve stopped. And even then, he had some quick chuckles. A boy? It’s been a long time…a long time he hadn’t been called that.

“So care to tell me why you were so down? A boy like you was made to smile, not to frown, but it seems to me that you are more used of the opposite.” Jonah walked closer. He raised his hand and tapped his forefinger on Steve’s forehead. His eyes fluttered under the soft touch. His entire face scrunched before relaxing.

He had seriously thought that Bucky and Tony would be happy to see him go back to university. They never complained or tried to reason him for the last few months. Maybe that’s why it hurt so bad…to think that they certainly laughed behind his back during the entire process filled him with anguish.

“My boyfriends lied to me. I thought they were supportive of me going back to school. But they only pretended…” Steve dropped his head and closed his eyes. The presence of Jonah weirdly anchored him. “I came back earlier and eavesdrop their conversation.” He swallowed with difficulty. The words, thanks to his eidetic memory came back raging in his head. “They thought I’d eventually come to my senses and recognize how ridiculous my idea was.”

Steve crossed his arms on his chest and slowly raised his head. Jonah wasn’t looking at him but on his right, where his newly acquired tools were.

“Why did you choose arts, Mister Rogers?”

Steve looked at him perplexed. What did it have to do with what he just revealed? Before he could properly think about it, the answer spilled out of his mouth.

“I have always loved arts under all its forms. Bucky always thought it started out of pure necessity. I used to sell sexy drawings to a newspaper, and it’d help us at the end of the month. I was sick and frail, almost like a burden first to my mom, then to Bucky. But arts…arts have always been something I could do. It didn’t demand any efforts, but it’s not only that. I could take a pen and draw anything. I could reinvent the world and create smiles where they were long gone. Draw people who died…or capture the moment,” he added quickly. He should have never talked that long. Jonah was practically a stranger. And what if he talked to the press, his heartbeat rose. He grabbed his thing and stood up, wobbling dangerously due to the lack of food.

“Whoa whoa Mister Rogers, calm down,” Jonah helped him out. “I can see how your brain works and no, I’m not going to talk to the press about any of that. And I guess you only have my words, huh?”

Steve’s brain short-circuited. The warmth of the hand on the middle of his chest seemed to burn through his clothes. He took a deep breath and relaxed. Somehow.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, cheeks still flaming red.

Jonah shook his head, a small amused smile playing on his lips. “So polite,” he muttered, to himself. Jonah took a few steps away and Steve mourned the comforting feeling.

“Have you told them what you used to do, mister Rogers?”

What?

“When you talked about your past, I couldn’t help but notice how you talked about dead people, how you drew them. Why didn’t you tell your _lovers_...” the word coming out of Jonah’s mouth sounded sinful. “what it truly means for you to go to school and achieve your dream.”

Steve dropped his gaze to the ground. The meaning of Jonas’ words passed right over his head. He knew what he said was meaningful and supposed to help him get better. Why couldn’t he focus! Instead his thoughts were getting on a dangerous territory. Just this morning he was waking up with Bucky and Tony by his side, thinking that it was a sight he’d never get tired of, and now he was getting flustered by his teacher. Fuck…get a grip, he thought with conviction.

“I already have.”

Jonah hummed while playing with his beard, which covered what seemed to be a sharp jaw. Steve closed his legs as the phantom sensation of a soft hair bruised his inner thighs. He didn’t dare close his eyes to face the perverse images which were crossing his mind.

Had he been cursed? Maybe a lust potion? Steve scratched the back of his neck and took a deep breath.

“You know what. I’m going to give you one good advice. Go for it. If you end up not liking it or being bored then…change major. You have all your life in front of you, Mister Rogers, don’t be a secondary character to your own life. And if your lovers can’t understand that, maybe it’s time for you to move on, as painful as it is.”

Steve opened his mouth. Then closed it. The idea of losing Bucky and Tony constricted his heart. And at the same time, he didn’t imagine himself giving up on his dreams.

“Oh, no, what have I done?” Jonah exclaimed dramatically. “The frown is back.”

Steve huffed, chastised. He massaged his forehead to let go of some tension.

“Sorry,” he mumbled again.

“…the death of me,” he heard the man whisper. Steve tensed, eyes bulging and mouth agape. He wasn’t supposed to hear that, right? He cleared his throat and fidgeted with the gouaches.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” Jonah groaned and put his head in his hands. “I’m really sorry, Mister Rogers. How unprofessional of me.”

Steve wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans.

“We are outside the classroom. And if it is really a problem, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything.”

“I trust you, Mister Rogers.” Jonah winked.

“Steve,” he corrected him, without thinking.

Jonah whiskey eyes gleamed. There was something quite familiar and dangerous in his eyes. “Steve,” he repeated, tasting the word on his tongue.

Steve hid his sudden moan behind a cough. His face was not hell warm. Probably a lust potion. Someone – Clint- must have slipped something in his drink. It was the only solution. Jonah checked his watch and groaned. Steve felt instantly sorry. He hadn’t meant to talk that long to him. He must have

“I’m sorry, you must have a lot of things to do and –.”

He trailed off when Jonah got closer to him. Steve eyed him with unconcealed curiosity. Jonah extended his hand to probably shake Steve’s. As soon as both of their palms made contact, Jonah bent forward and kissed his palm. At this point, Steve’s control over his emotion crumbled. His heart went haywire. He wasn’t sure if it was healthy, but his heart missed a beat. Actually he was a 100% sure it missed at least one if not several beats.

Jonah stood straight and stared into his eyes. “You sure are going to be the death of me, _Steve_.”

On these last words, Jonah let go of his hand and started walking down the street. Steve stayed frozen at the same place, eyes still on the other man. As he was getting far enough, Jonah turned once back to wave at him.

After that, Steve ran. He vaguely noted that it took him less longer to come back. Actually, he was so distracted that he almost missed the Tower.

He didn’t know what would happen. One part of him, wished it was a misunderstanding, that Bucky and Tony were genuinely happy for him. But the words…what he’s heard wouldn’t be easy to explain and he wasn’t sure to be ready to argue with his lovers.

There again time went by fast. He barely had the time to formulate a somewhat intelligible speech that he was in the penthouse.

He slowly made his way to the living room where Bucky and Tony were. Bucky jumped to his feet, as usual, when he saw him and smiled happily, arms already open to hug him.

At this moment, Steve was ready to throw any of his resolutions away. Maybe it was just misunderstanding after all. Bucky has always been with him and had his back more than he could count…

Then, Bucky eyes went to his canvas and his smiled dimmed before coming back a little too tight on the corners. Tony who just got up eyed him curiously. When his eyes found the canvas, he looked away. 

Steve smiled sadly. “We need to talk.”

Fin


End file.
